Tray attachment for chairs



Aug. 9, 1966 N. J. LA BOMBARD ETAL TRAY ATTACHMENT FOR CHAIRS Filed Aug. 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. Nelson J. LaBombar'd BY William E. Haney g- 9. 1966 N. J. LA BOMBARD ETAL 3,265,436

TRAY ATTACHMENT FOR CHAIRS Filed Aug. 10, 1964 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 I66 m Ag INVENTORS. Nelson J. AaBombard BY William E. Haney ww ATTORNEYW United States Patent 3,265,436 TRAY ATTACHMENT F0111 CHAIRS Nelson J. La Bomhard, 6625 Ehy Place, Merriam, Kane, and William E. Haney, 608 Romany Road, Kansas City, Mo.

Filed Aug. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 388,380 3 (Ilairns. (Cl. 297-162) This invention relates to the provision of structure for permitting attachment of a tray to a chair so that it may be readily available for use simply by swinging the tray from a stored position out of use to a position above the lap of a person seated in the chair.

It is the primary object of the instant invention to not only eliminate storage problems for trays, but to provide an arrangement permitting the user to move toward and away from a seated position without need for carrying the tray itself.

Another important object of our present invent-ion is to incorporate the aforesaid advantages in a tray attachment while at the same time providing for height adjustment and for readily releasable means to hold the tray against horizontal swing-ing movement toward or away from the occupant of the chair while the tray is in use.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a tray assembly that is universally adapted for attachment to various types of chairs having differing widths, heights and structural components.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an attachment of the aforementioned character showing the same mounted on the chair;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational View thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational view illustrating the tray in its stored position;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3; 7

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary plan view of a releasable connecting means on one arm of the chair;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the connecting means shown in FIG. 6:

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 depicting the preferred form of our present invention, illustrating the tray in one of its stored positions by dotted lines and in another stored position by dashed lines;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the preferred form of our invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary, inverted perspective view at one end of the tray;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary view partially in section showing a portion of the tray support; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing that end of the tray assembly opposite to FIG. 10.

As .above indicated, the tray attachment of the embodiment of FIGS. l7 of our present invention, generally designated 10, is adapted for connection to a chair 12. The attachment 10 includes a support 14, a tray 16, a bracket 18, and attaching structure 20.

Structure includes an L-shaped rod 24 having a reduced threaded portion 26 at its lowermost end, and a U-shaped clamp 28 which surrounds leg 30' of chair 12 and receives threaded portion 26. The clamp 28 is received between a flange 38 on rod 24 and a nut 36 on portion 26.

3,255,436 Patented August 9, 1966 Support 14 includes a rotatable, upright, tubular member 40 in which rod 24 is telescoped, having a stop 42 resting on rod 24. Support 14 has an element 58 beneath tray 16, and a hinge 44 connecting it with member 40. Hinge 44 includes a semicircular portion 46, a pin 48, and a Z-shaped portion 50. Portion 46 is attached in partial surrounding relationship to member 40. Portion 50 has legs 52, 54 and 56, leg 54 being in perpendicular relationship to legs 52 and 56. Leg 52, attached to portion 46 through hinge pin 48, normally rests on the upper end of member 40', while legs 54 and 56 are rigidly attached to sleeve part 60 of the supporting element 58.

Tray 16 is rigidly attached to sleeve 60. Element 58 also includes an L-shaped part 6 2, one leg 64 of which is telescoped in sleeve 60. Bracket 18, essentially U-shaped, is looped over an arm 66 of chair 12 and is rigidly secured thereto by a bolt 68. Bracket 18 has a laterally extending U-shaped spring clip 70 which receives a leg 72 of part 62.

In use, attachment 10 is placed into service by securing clamp 28 to chair leg 30 in the proper position, this position (both in height and fore and aft relationship to chair back 74) being dictated by the particular configuration of the chair. Bracket 18 is then secured to arm 66. Member 14 may then be placed on rod 24. Leg 64 is telescoped into sleeve 60 and leg '72 is snapped into clip 70.

To place tray '16 into storage position, leg 72 is removed from clip 70 and element 58 is swung about hinge pin 48 to a vertical position alongside member 40 (FIG. 3). When a person is seated in chair 12 with tray 16 in its horizontal position, he may rise from the chair by merely releasing leg 72 and swinging tray v16 forwardly in a horizontal plane. Upon returning to the chair 12, he may again place the tray into service by swinging it toward back 74 and connecting leg 72 with clip 70.

Tray 16 may be removed from structure 20 by lifting member 40 from rod 24. Tray 16 may then be taken to a serving table for filling with food or the like, and then returned to the chair 12 to be replaced on rod 24. Tray 16 may then again be removed when it is desired to clear and wash the tray.

The attachment 10 may be placed on chairs of various types and sizes by proper placement of clamp 28 and bracket 18, and part 62 may be shifted to accommodate various widths of chairs.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the holding means on arm 66 chosen for illustrating purposes functions primarily to keep tray 16 from swinging horizontally about the vertical axis of rod 24. Other types may be selected which are capable also of supporting the tray 16 in cooperation with the rod 24. For example, a U-shaped saddle rigid to the lower end of leg 72 may be made to straddle the arm 66. Or, .a suction cup rigid to the leg 72 for gripping the top surface of arm 66 might well be desirable. Still further, magnetic means between arm 66 and leg 72 would serve the desired functions.

All of the attributes of our invention as above described are incorporated also in the modification illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12, together with certain additional features to be made clear.

Tray attachment 1111 for chair 112 includes .a support broadly designated by the numeral 114 for tray 1116. The bracket for holding the tray 116 against swinging movement toward and away from the occupant of the chair 112 and which is used in connection with arm 166 of chair 112 is broadly designated by the numeral 118. The attaching structure for mounting the tray attachment on leg of chair 112 is broadly designated by the numeral 120. It is in the nature of an L-shaped rod 124 as in FIGS. 1-7 and mounted in the same manner to the leg 130 by a clamp 128.

The support 114 includes an upright member 140 that is rotatable about its vertical axis when the tray 116 is caused to swing toward and away from the occupant of the chair 112. The hinge for swingably mounting the tray 116 on the rotatable member 140 is broadly designated by the numeral 144. It includes a hinge pin 148 integrally connected with the member 140 through a horizontal portion 146, and a bridge part or bight 150, it being seen that the elements 146, 148 and 150 present a U-shaped configuration with the member 140 depending from the outermost free end of the portion 146 remote from bight 150.

Supporting element 158 for the tray 116 is made up of three elements in this modification of our invention, namely, an elongated channel element 159 rigid to the bottom of tray 116, a sleeve 160 within the channel 159 and rigid thereto, and an L-shaped part 162. One of the legs 164 of the L-shaped part 162 is slida-bly and rotatably telescoped within sleeve 160', and the other leg 172 is bent at right angles to the leg 164 much the same as seen in FIG. 2.

Bracket 118 is in the nature of a loop 170 that is permanently attached to the leg 172 by a lateral extension 171 from the free end of leg 172. Noteworthy in FIG. 9 is the way in which the loop 170 hooks over the innermost longitudinal edge of the arm 166. It serves therefore, to not only hold the tray 1 16 against swinging movement about the vertical axis of the member 140, but supports tray 116 from arm 166 in cooperation with the support that is provided by the member 140 and its associated parts.

FIG. 11 of the drawings illustrates also the way in which there is provided a tube 173 surrounding the upper end of rod 124 and the lower end of the member 140. The lower end of member 140 rests directly on the upper end of rod 120 and member 140 is free to rotate in the tube 173. Furthermore, a strap 175 interconects the leg 130 and the tube 173 to provide additional stability.

FIG. 12 of the drawings shows tray 116 in its normal horizontal operating position with the channel 159 resting on the portion 146 of the hinge structure 144. This permits movement of tray 116 toward and away from the occupant of chair 112 as channel 159 slides along the hinge pin 148 and the loop 170 slides along the arm 166.

In FIG. 9 of the drawings, tray 1116 is shown by dotted lines in a stored position, i.e., that position which it assumes when initially swung about the horizontal axis of the hinge pin 148; and, in such position, the top of tray 116 faces inwardly toward chair 112. It is possible however, in this preferred embodiment of our invention, to thereafter again manipulate tray 1 16 from such stored position, swinging it about the axis of the tube 173, thereby placing the upping face of the tray 116 where it faces outwardly away from chair 112; and, asseen in FIG. 8, in the second stored position, the tray 1116 is completely out of the way, farther back from the leading edge of the seat 177 of chair 112.

Finally, there is included lock means to hold the L- shaped part 162 as illustrated by (full lines in FIG. 10 when the tray 116 is stored vertically. This locking means is in the nature of a notch 179 in one leg of channel 159 remote from hinge pin 148 for releasably receiving the leg 172.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A tray attachment for chairs comprising:

structure for attachment to a leg of the chair;

an upright member rotatably carried by said structure;

a supporting element extending laterally from said upright member, said supporting element being U- shaped in configuration whereby to present a bight and a pair of legs, one leg thereof defining a hinge pin; the other leg thereof defining a brace;

a tray supporting element swingably carried by said hinge pin, said brace being in a plane below that of said hinge pin whereby when said tray supporting element is swung about said pin to a position of use said brace supports said tray supporting element;

a tray carried by said tray supporting element; and

a bracket carried by said tray for attachment to an arm of the chair.

2. A tray attachment for chairs as set forth in claim 1, said bracket being shiftable with respect to said tray and having a loop at one end thereof for embracing said arm of the chair.

3. A tray attachment for chairs as set forth in claim 2, there being a vertically disposed tube carried by said structure for attachment to a leg of the chair, one end of said upright member being rotatably received within said tube, the other end of said member defining said supporting element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 319,105 6/1885 McClure 297-l X 598,895 2/1898 Bell 297-170 X 955,523 4/ 1910 Lytle 297162 1,232,757 7/ 1917 Berkey 297170 X 1,247,112 11/1917 Holmberg 297170 X 2,491,465 12/1949 Johnson 297 2,767,774 10/ 1956 Derby 297149 2,799,324 7/1957 Anderson 297150 X 2,833,335 5/1958 Leclair 297150 X 2,979,118 4/1961 Gelman 297150 3,097,884 7/ 1963 Alford 297-153 3,099,479 7/1963 Banke 297162 X 3,123,397 3/1964 Murcott 297-150 3,142,511 7/ 1964 Rehel 297-149 3,156,498 11/1964 Blodee 297162 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

J. T. MCCALL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TRAY ATTACHMENT FOR CHAIRS COMPRISING: STRUCTURE FOR ATTACHMENT TO A LEG OF THE CHAIR; AN UPRIGHT MEMBER ROTATABLY CARRIED BY SAID STRUCTURE; A SUPPORTING ELEMENT EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM SAID UPRIGHT MEMBER, SAID SUPPORTING ELEMENT BEING USHAPED IN CONFIGURATION WHEREBY TO PREVENT A BIGHT AND A PAIR OF LEGS, ONE LEG THEREOF DEFINING A HINGE PIN, THE OTHER LEG THEREOF DEFINING A BRACE; A TRAY SUPPORTING ELEMENT SWINGABLY CARRIED BY SAID HINGE PIN, SAID BRACE BEING IN A PLANE BELOW THAT OF SAID HINGE PIN WHEREBY WHEN SAID TRAY SUPPORTING ELEMENT IS SWUNG ABOUT SAID PIN TO A POSITION OF USE SAID TRAY BRACE SUPPORTS SAID TRAY SUPPORTING ELEMENT; A TRAY CARRIED BY SAID TRAY SUPPORTING ELEMENT; AND A BRACKET CARRIED BY SAID TRAY FOR ATTACHMENT TO AN ARM OF THE CHAIR. 